The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Thanks for your suggestions. This will be good practice before I do the canoe.

Thanks,
Dave

I started varnishing my seats, yoke & thwart with Benjamin Moore 440 spar varnish. After the varnished dried I noticed orange peal on some areas. I did wipe the wood down with mineral spirits. I read were it could be the varnish is too thick and not allowing it to flow properly. The spec sheet f...

I have some air trapped under the fiberglass near the stem causing a white patch. This happened when I added 3 layers of glass on a bias to the stem. I should have wet the cloth first before I applied it. :td Any suggestions in fixing it. I was thinking of sanding it down to where the air is trapped...

I just ran into the same problem with my Freedom 17/9 where the hull raised off of the molds. When I put my last strip in it did raise it a little bit, but now it about a 1/4 inch off the molds; probably from the humidity from all the rain we are getting. My only concern is the 1/4" is not in t...

I built my strong back 17' for my Freedom 17-9.

Glen Smith wrote:If you work down the inner stem in a gradual curve, you should be able to mate the outer stem to the inner stem with just a bit of pressure. I have used a webbing strap with a wedge of wood to achieve this before.

Glen,

Thanks for your help; now I'll be able sleep tonight.

:smile

Dave

The inner stem should be flush with the top of the first mold. However, for this to occur, the inner stem must be of the correct thickness (height) and the molds must be setup to align properly. At this stage in the process you may as well sart working down the top of the inner stems to get them fl...

I'm at the point were I'm shaping the inner stem near the first mold. The stem is about 1/4" above the stem. From what I have seen, most of the pictures show that the stem and mold are flush. Should I shave the stem flush to the mold or continue stripping and have a gap near the point of mold? ...

I’m curious how everyone goes about trimming the fiberglass along the stem after epoxying? I know when you cut the fiberglass to size; you leave a few inches past the stems. After wetting out, do you trim to the edge of the stem and smooth out the fiberglass on the stem or do you wrap around the ste...

Thank you for your sugestions. I will start it just below the sheer line. Denis, very nice looking boat with the placement of the accent strip; that's exactlly what I was looking for.

Thanks
Dave

I plan on starting my first strip parallel to the water line. My question is how far past the sheer line do you go or do you just make it even with the lowest point of the shear line and just trim up to that point?

Looks fantastic. Did you start the center of your first strip at the sheer line and then parralled the the water line?

I really like the site, and I look forward to following your build progress. I'm starting on a Freedom Solo, and seeing your site is just what I needed to get me to set up my own. I stole the idea of using Google Sites from you, hope you don't mind. You're right - it was easy and fast, a lot faster...

I started my Freedom 17-9 last month and decided to create a website and log my progress. It was very easy creating the site using Google Sites.

http://sites.google.com/site/freedom179canoe/home

Dave

My wife came up with a great idea. Not sure where I was going to buy my red cedar for my Freedom 17/9 and planning on residing our house, my wife suggested that I rip the existing red ceder clap board from our house into strips. I can get about 6 or7 strips out of a board and the longest is about 15...